Christopher CRAWSHAW

[wendyg]

Help! I have hit a brick wall with Christopher Crawshaw, born abt 1782 - I cannot find a birth or marriage. His son was Joseph born abt 1820 - 1851 census, living Thurgoland, states born Elland, 1861 says Halifax. I am guessing Christopher was born in West Riding - he is not the one listed on IGI born Lancashire. I cannot find birth of Christopher or Joseph and I do not know his mother's name. Christopher is listed as a joiner on son's marriage cert. Any help anyone can give me would be very much appreciated.
 

[Sunlaws]

Hi

There is no birth, marriage or death of a Christopher Crawshaw at all in the registers of Elland St Mary up to 1837, nor any baptism for a Joseph with father Christopher.
There is no baptism for a Christopher Crawshaw in the registers of Halifax St. John.

In fact, in neither register is there a single use of the name Christopher by a Crawshaw. On the IGI, all the Christopher Crawshaws originate in Lancashire, apart from one stray at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Have you positively ruled out the one who marries Sarah Pinder in Preston in 1821?

regards,

Lesley

[wendyg]

Hi - many thanks for checking those records - a great help. I am 99% sure my Christopher is not the one in Lancashire. He is a bit of a mystery - he appears on the York Assizes records and was sentanced to death but it was changed to transportation - however I have found his partner in crime on the transportation records but not him - he seems to have vanished! Thanks again for your help.
Regards
Wendy

[willsy]

Don't know if this is any help but I have

REBECCA CRAWSHAY     
Marriages:
Spouse:     ISAAC WARD    
Marriage:     
28 APR 1782  Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England

A bit earlier than your date but it does give you another area plus another spelling, as I have found the name sometimes

CRAWSHAY 
CRAWSHAW
CRAWSURE

It is the Ward line I am interested in and have nothing on Rebecca (also spelt Rebekah) so I can't help you any further and I am a little stuck as I do not live in the area.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help but if you google Crawshaw and Dewsbury, there is quite a lot of info
Elaine

[wendyg]

Many thanks for your reply - I too have found variations of the spelling of the name Crawshaw - in fact Joseph is shown as Crowshaw on his marriage cert but Crawshaw on all the census'.

best wishes
Wendy

[MCrawshaw]

Hi Wendy,
Did you make any progress with Christopher?

[wendyg]

Hi - no, I have not made any progress with Christopher - a real brick wall! Cannot find a birth for his son Joseph either showing father as Christopher. It's very frustrating. There is a birth of a Christopher about the right time but it is in Lancashire and it doesn't seem to fit. Where do you fit in the Crawshaw family? Thanks for taking trouble to reply.

[MCrawshaw]

Joseph is my great great great grandfather.

Ok I think I might be able to help. I was stuck on Christopher Crawshaw for years. I gave up in the end but a couple of days ago I started up again.
As I think you may have suspected, it seems that Christopher Crawshaw was in fact Crispin Crawshaw. A search on him confirms baptism on 27 Apr 1781 in Ripponden to a father, John Crawshaw.
He married Sarah Taylor (aka "Sally") on May 30 1803 in Elland (Joseph stated on the 1851 census that he was also born in Elland) and they had 6 children - Joseph being the youngest (I won't spoil all the fun by naming Joseph's siblings).
In the York Assizes Christopher is said to come from Norland.
If you go onto google maps you'll see that Norland, Ripponden and Elland are very close (about a mile) to each other and form part of the Halifax/ Huddersfield suburbs. One of the siblings has their abode listed as Barkiskand - again exactly in that area.

There are still some unanswered questions: I can't find any baptism entry for Joseph; Joseph was born 6 years after his closest sibling (but there's a gap of 6 years between that sibling and another and so that might be irrelevant) and it seems that Crispin became Christopher between 1816 and 1821. Don't know why but suspect that it could be that he shortened it to Cris and other registrars assumed Christopher or it could be that given his criminality it was a convenient pseudonym.

[wendyg]

Hi - yes I thought it could be Crispin but I'm not sure. It looks as though his father, John was a weaver so possibly Crispin was a weaver. I have a death cert written as  "Cris Christopher Crawshaw, died 3 July 1848 - weaver, living Ovenden. " I think this is Crispin Crawshaws death cert - age 67 in 1848, so ties in with birth date. However on Joseph's marriage cert father's occupation is joiner. As you say Joseph's birth is not noted anywhere. I am not 100% convinced that Crispin is Christopher. Also Christopher was sentenced to death, then changed to transportation but is not listed on convict ship although his partner in crime is. I suspect he could have died in prison awaiting transportation. York Gaol have no record though. I don't think he would have been alive in 1848, when Crispin died. Mystery - I think Joseph's birth has to be found somewhere, probably not transcribed on line yet. What relation are you to Christopher?